Southern LNG Inc. v. MacGinnitie

The Honorable Supreme Court met pursuant to adjournment. The following order was passed: It appearing that the enclosed opinion decides a second-term appeal, which must be concluded by the end of the September Term on December 16, 2011, it is ordered that a motion for reconsideration, if any, must be received in the Clerk’s Office by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, including any motions submitted via the Court’s electronic filing system.

Appellant Southern LNG is a Delaware corporation that owns real property on Elba Island in Chatham County, on which are located liquified natural gas facilities that contain liquid natural gas appellant receives from international producers. When natural gas is needed, the liquid natural gas is removed from the storage facilities through a network of pipes, is returned to a gaseous state, and is then delivered by means of intra- and interstate pipelines. Appellant contends it is a “public utility” under OCGA § 48-1-2 and, as such, is required under OCGA § 48-5-511 to make an annual tax return of its Georgia property to the Georgia Revenue Commissioner rather than to the Chatham County tax authorities. Appellant filed a complaint for declaratory judgment and for writ of mandamus in the Superior Court of Fulton County, seeking to have the trial court recognize appellant as a “public utility” under § 48-1-2 and to order appellee Douglas J. MacGinnitie, the Georgia Revenue Commissioner, to accept appellant’s annual ad valorem property tax return, to assess the property uniformly with that of other public utilities in Georgia, and to include the property in the report the Commissioner files with the Chatham County tax assessor. See OCGA § 48-5-524. The trial court granted the Commissioner’s motion to dismiss the complaint, ruling that appellant’s complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted because the doctrine of sovereign immunity was applicable to the claims. A timely appeal to this Court on the applicability of sovereign immunity to this case followed. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.